The Sound of Silence
by Hera93
Summary: Sirius is back but at a big cost. Will someone be able to help him get back what he's lost and express in words what he's been through whilst being behind the veil? Rated M for later chapter.


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**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters, only the plot of this story.

**Author's Note:** Okay, this is another attempt of mine to write Harry Potter fan fiction. The pairing I chose for this story is not one that I support but I think that it suits perfectly with the plot, so be it, SB/HG.

Please, after you've read this first chapter, leave me a review telling me what you think. I have already written part of the rest of it but reviews always help me to improve my work before posting it. :)

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It was just past midnight. Rain was falling non-stop outside, furrowing with watery little lines the windows of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. She was curled up in an armchair beside the fireplace, absorbing the warmth and the smell of freshly-cut, burning wood whilst leafing through a book Kingsley had recommended her. The house was silent; the rest of the household were already taken into Morpheus' seductive arms and she wouldn't ask for more – she needed sometime alone if she wanted to keep her sanity.

The book was about to fall from her hand as she had started feeling sleepy and unable to keep her eyes focused on it when an aggressive knock on the front door made her freeze. Who could have discovered the house? The only people who knew how to find it, now that Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus and Nymphadora were dead, were inside it and fast asleep – apart from her.

The unexpected visitor kept on knocking, each time even harder. Trying to compose herself, she reached for her wand in her pocket and stood up. She glanced at the stairs for a moment and thought of waking the others, but quickly she shook off this thought and turned to the door.

When she reached it, she hesitated again. Who could have discovered the house, for Merlin's sake? It was supposed to be protected from Muggle view as well as wizards without knowledge of where it was situated. What if it was someone who wanted to harm them?

_Oh, stop being an insufferable idiot_, she told herself grimly. _Who reasonable a man would knock on someone's door in order to harm him? Besides, if so, you are an auror and a powerful witch. You've been through much more difficult circumstances. Now get done with it._

Very cautiously, she placed her hand on the doorknob and with a brisk move she opened it just in time before the man started knocking again. His arm froze in the air while his eyes searched fervently her face. She looked at him all over. His posture and the way his hair fell over his temple, however soaked with water, reminded her a very dear person. But no way it was him. It could never be possible. However, when she met his smoky grey eyes she saw recognition, relief and warmth and all-of-the-sudden, she knew it was _him_.

"Is it really you?", she managed to whisper in shock.

He didn't respond. He just smiled.

"Merlin, I must be dreaming", she whispered again and pulled him in, grasping him from the front of his cloak.

She led him in the sitting room and had him sit by the fire. She herself sat beside him and studying his face, touching him with her hands, as if to make sure it was really _him_, being there, back from the dead. He chose to merely sit there, looking back at her with piercing eyes as she kept exploring his torso above his clothing with her hands, smiling contentedly. When she was totally convinced, she spread her arms and enclosed him in a tight hug. He didn't hug her back simultaneously; when he did, though, he seemed to have been longing to hug someone.

"_Sirius_", she whispered once again. "I cannot believe you are here! How...?", she added pulling off and stared in his eyes again.

But once again, he did not speak. He kept on smiling, a bit unsure this time.

"Oh, Sirius...", she smiled too. "If only you knew how much we missed you. Harry above us all...It was a great pain for him to lose you..."

His smile somehow faded hearing this and he turned his face to the fire and then hiding it inside his palms. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong, Sirius? You can talk to me", she said softly.

He raised his head and gave her a sad look. Then, with slow movements he stood up and reached for the desk near the large window and wrote something with the quill he found on a piece of parchment. Afterwards, he knelt in front of her and placed in her hand the parchment, a sad frown plastered on his face as he nodded, urging her to read.

"What is it", she said smiling and read what he had scribbled. The expression on her face changed almost instantly.

"Hermione? Are you there..?"

A voice called her over from the corridor and seconds later Ronald Weasley entered the room. He found his wife sprawled against the armchair by the fire, holding in her arms the head of a man who lay against her lap and whimpered slightly as she tried to comfort him.

"What's going on here?", he asked, annoyed by what he was facing. "Who's that?"

He took a closer look at the man who somehow had calmed down and had now stilled his eyes at the fireplace. The hair, the clothes, the characteristics of his face, they all matched.

"Merlin help us", he exclaimed. "Is this _Sirius_?"

She nodded and helped him rise.

"Why is he like this?", he asked her and then turned to him. "Mate, what has happened? We all thought you were...gone for good."

Sirius gave him one of his sad smiles and turned his gaze again on Hermione.

"My, why won't you talk? Is something wrong?"

"Ron, I think you'd better leave this conversation for another time", she said and met Sirius' gaze.

He simply nodded again at her, granting her permission. Then, she picked up the parchment and handed it to Ron.

"Come, Sirius", she called then, taking his hand. "I'll bring you some pillows and bedsheets in your room. You should sleep."

After they had both gone upstairs, Ron glanced at the parchment, recognising Sirius' delicately messy handwriting. It had one single phrase written on it.

_I have lost my voice._


End file.
